


The Man On The Moon {Reylo AU}

by authors_bane



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, F/M, Reylo - Freeform, finnrose - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-01-07 10:11:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12230772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/authors_bane/pseuds/authors_bane
Summary: Centuries after a nuclear apocalypse decimated Earth, three space stations have managed to thrive. One found it's way to Venus, where the people have learned to live with the acid rain. One landed on the planet Mercury, where the view is plain and grey. The last one landed on the Moon, but has long since been lost.Princess Rey of the Venus Station has reigned in her parents' absence for years. Her loyal bodyguard, Kylo, a Knight of Ren, came to the Venus Station from the Moon Station. Since it's sudden radio near 10 years prior, around the same time Rey's parents vanished, Kylo has been looking for some kind of explanation.However, their plans are forfeit when a supposed Mercury Station spy named Finn is brought in by two of their own, the famous trader and pilot, Poe Dameron, and maintenance worker, Rose Tico. However, Finn swears up and down he isn't a spy and his only intention was to get away from the Mercury Station, where he says a new ruler has taken over and turned the already toxic air to poison. This unlikely group of friends must discover the mysterious that shroud their lives before Supreme Leader Snoke deals anymore damage to the remainder of the human race.





	1. Chapter 1

Rey, Princess and Regent of the Throne of Venus Station, sat with her counselors, her head in her hands as they bickered needlessly.  
"There is no debate here!" Admiral Statura shouted across the table. Lor San Tekka, one of Rey's must trusted advisors, stared back at the Admiral, not phased. His wrinkled hands lay folded on the table. His blue eyes shone with boredom, the same feeling that Rey felt in her chest. The matter in her mind was already settled.  
"Admrial Statura is right," Rey said, finally lifting her head. The men and women around the table quieted instantly and looked to her. "There is no debate here. I've made my decision."  
The counselors patiently awaited her answer.  
"We don't need another centre for trade." Those on the right side of the table groaned, Admiral Statura melodramatically so. "We should, instead, use that new land to create, not new homes, but new greenhouses. They are cheaper than new homes and with the extra money, we can rebuild Sector Nine and the homes lost there. That is my final decision."  
Before any in the room could protest, Rey stood from her chair and flew from the room, her elegant robes billowing out behind her. Her bodyguard followed, silent as always. He followed her down the halls of the Palace Building towards her room where she could finally get some peace and quiet. With the door shut tightly behind her, Rey fell into the pile of large pillows that littered one small section of her floor. With a great sigh, she sank into the comfort they offered her. Her bodyguard stood by, waiting patiently for a command.  
"At ease," she mumbled through the pillows. The dark haired bodyguard sunk himself into a chair. "You've been a long time on your feet, Ren," she said. "You can ask to sit every once and a while."  
Kylo Ren leaned back in the chair.  
"A bodyguard's duty is to be alert."  
"And you can't do that sitting down?" Kylo didn't respond. "From here on out, you have my express permission to sit whenever your feet start to hurt."  
Rey kicked off her heels as she said this.  
"As you wish, Princess."  
Rey sat up from her pile of comfort and glared playfully at her guard.  
"How many times have I asked you not to call me that."  
"Many a time, madam."  
Rey stood, picking up her shoes and walked towards her bedroom.  
"And how many more times must I ask you to call me by my name?" She asked, placing her shoes among the rows and rows of other shoes she owned,  
"Just once more, Princess," he told her, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Rey's lips stretched into a thin smile. Looking back at her mass amounts of shoes and dresses and hats, she remembered the time before she found her family. She grew up on the streets, among the rats and thieves. She fought every day for food and survival, working for a Fagin named Unkar Plutt. She was caught trying to steal something from the Palace at age 10. Before she was even put on trial, the Queen recognized the birthmark on her neck as the very same birthmark her daughter was born with just days before her kidnapping. Only a few weeks later, she was crowned Princess and heir.  
At 10, she found her family.  
And at 11 she lost them again.  
The truth about her parents' disappearance was shrouded in mystery. They were making a journey to the Mercury Station, but everyone there swears they never made it. There was no evidence that pointed either way and there hadn't been for ten years. So, she was crowned Regent until her parents returned.  
It was a few months after her parents went missing that the Moon Station went radio silent.  
Looking around at her elegant room, with its gold trimmed picture frames, crystal vases full of roses, a large bed the size of some people's homes, and Old Earth paintings, and was suddenly grateful for all her parents had given her. She remembered what it was like to live on the streets and how lucky she was to be where she was. She would never forget her roots and her time spent running from every Enforcer of Law there was. She would never forget the lessons it taught her, but she was grateful all the same.  
Light snores came from the other room. She looked over at her slumbering guard. He had been by her side through all of the hardest times besides the first few years. She owed her life to him many times over. He was a skilled fighter and had a keen sense of danger when it came. Above all things that made him most dangerous to her enemies was the fact that in his blood were the radiated cells passed down from his parents and their parents. There aren't many that carried these mutated cells, but those who did were rumored to have great power. Rey had seen these powers of his with her own eyes.  
She had seen him draw things to him with just the lifting of his hand. She had seen him throw things that he wasn't even touching across the room. She had seen him choke the breath from someone's body who wished to do her harm, without laying a finger on him. The powers he held within him were terrifying and dangerous and, at times, untameable. It scared her, at times. Not just his power, but the way he desired to use it. She had seen the lust for power in his eyes. In all honestly, she was uncertain of his stability at times.  
Yet, while he slept, he looked as harmful as any small creature. His eyes were still underneath his eyelids, his breath steady. His long hair was pulled back into a bun as it usually was, but parts of it fell from the tie and into his face. His dark robes draped about him like a blanket. He looked at peace, as if nothing had yet touched him in this life. Rey knew that things weren't always good for him, as they are now. She knew from the cries he made at night while he slept, how he woke in a cold sweat, how he left her room for no more than 30 minutes to walk of the pain. Nightmares; she knew them well.  
But for now, he slept peacefully. She would not disturb him. She changed into her night clothes and grabbed a book from her library. She hadn't been able to read until she found her parents. Her mother read to her every day until she could read herself. Now, she read every night to remind herself of her mother.  
She curled herself up in a chair across from where Kylo slept and opened the book. Her small dog, a breed called a 'pug' to the Terrans, called by the name 'Nubs', jumped onto her lap and curled in her lap.  
Rey prayed that there were no more duties for her to attend to tonight. It had been a long day of meetings and decision making. She and her body guard deserved rest before tomorrow came. The traders from the farther stations on Venus were coming and that meant another day where the Princess was on her feet all day. She loved the Traders dearly. They were as much her subjects as those who lived closer to her. In fact, one of her closest friends was a trader by the name of Poe Dameron. She was always excited to see him and his ever loving tabby cat, Baby, called by him, BB. His partner used to be an engineer for the Palace, but Rose Tico and Poe became fast friends, almost siblings, and decided to begin trading together. They were an unstoppable team and very dear to Rey's heart.  
She realized, after imagining what the next day would bring, that she had had her book opened for at least an hour, yet read not a page of it. She laughed to herself and shut the book. Glancing up, she noticed that her guard had risen and was in the bathroom, combing his tangled hair. Rey stretched. Nubs groaned in his sleep and rolled over.  
"Are you going out, Ren?" She asked. Kylo turned from the mirror and looked at her, startled, not having known that she was awake. He gave her a partial smile.  
"I thought you were asleep, Princess." She laughed.  
"I was just dreaming, Ren."  
"So you were asleep?"  
"One can dream without sleeping," she told him, lifting Nubs off of her

Ren huffed as he pulled is hair back into it's bun.  
"You didn't answer my question," Rey said, walking across the room to stand in front of the same mirror as he did. "Are you going out?"  
Ren glanced down at her as she started to fidget with the three buns in her own hair.  
"No, Princess. I am not. My duty is to stay by your side," he told her.  
"I am safe in my bedroom, Ren. I had guards outside the door at all times and the only window I have is 4o feet in the air. Who could possibly hurt me?"  
Her confidence in the dimwits posted outside made Kylo Ren laugh.  
"I would rather not play with those odds, Princess."  
He left the bathroom and sat on the floor to pet Nubs. Rey followed and sat back in her chair.  
"I like to hear your voice," she said to him after a few minutes of watching him play with her dog.  
"I tell you my opinions," he responded, thinking that she was speaking about his opinion of what happens in the meetings.  
"I mean to say that you only speak within the confides of these walls. I would like to hear your voice throughout the day. It's calming." Rey absentmindedly twirled a stray strand of hair around her finger. He scowled.  
"But my duties-"  
"Damn your duties!"  
Both Rey and Kylo were surprised by her outburst. Rey sighed and sunk into her chair, massaging a migraine out of her head with her fingers.  
"My apologies. I was out of line," she grumbled. Kylo shook his head.  
"I understand, Princess. You are under massive stress." He continued to pet the dog in his lap.  
"I'm just tired of us being restricted by our 'duties'. I just want to be a girl again, just for a day," she said. Kylo stood and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.  
"You're royalty, Princess. You're acting Regent. I think you can do whatever you please."  
She looked up from her hands and smiled at Kylo.  
"Thank you, Ren. Your words are always a comfort for me."  
He gave her a nod with the faintest of smiles.  
"I would advise going to be for the night, Princess. Tomorrow is the one day you must be our Regent," he said, straightening himself. Rey groaned.  
"You're right, but this chair is so comfy." She curled deeper into the chair. To make things more difficult, Nubs jumped onto her chest and curled up there. Ren smiled a small smile.  
"It is not my place to tell you where you can or cannot sleep. If you desire to sleep in that chair, then be my guest." He turned away from her and towards his own bedroom.  
"Goodnight, Ren," she called after him.  
"Goodnight, Princess." Before he entered his room, he used his aforementioned powers to cause a blanket to float across the room and drape itself over Rey's body. Snuggling under the warmth of the blanket, Rey allowed herself to smile. She kept her eyes on the Kylo's door until the light flicked off. Her eyes started to droop and she slowly fell into a deep, well deserved slumber.


	2. Chapter I: Coffee

Rey loved to wake up with the sun in her face. She always believed it was a great way to start the day. The Adaptors in the glass that created this station made it so the heat of the Sun’s rays weren’t enough to kill them all, which was always a nice thought in the morning.   
“Thank God the Adaptors still worked,” she would say to herself every morning once her eyes opened.   
However, on this particular morning, the sun was overcast by dark grey clouds. Thankfully, the Station was built to sustain acid rain and protect the people. But any kind of rain, acid or no, still put a damper on Trading Day.   
Traders from a smaller Station called “Haven Lake” (located in a crater previously unnamed by Terrans), came once a month to Mead, the main Station. Mead was named after the crater they had found themselves in upon first arrival many, many years ago. It is said that Mead was named after a Terran woman named Margaret Mead, which was why Venus Station was a ‘Queendom’, per say.   
Anyway, on this particular day, Rey awoke to the sound of Nubs barking loudly from her bed. Rey groaned as she opened her eyes. There was no Sun in the sky, only the sound of the rain against the glass dome. She found herself in her bed, which would not have been strange except for the fact that she had not fallen asleep in her bed.   
“Must’ve sleep walked,” she grumbled to herself as she pulled herself out of the bed and onto the floor. Nubs continued to bark loudly at something that Rey couldn’t see. “Nubs, hush!”   
The pug quieted down with a whine and leaped from the bed to lick his owner.   
Laying on the floor with no desire to move, Rey smiled as Numbs settled in by her side.   
Her joy was short lived. The light in her room flicked on, causing her to moan and squeeze her eyes shut.   
“Turn it off,” Rey whined.   
“Princess, if you don’t get ready now, you’ll miss the Arrival,” Kylo Ren told her from her doorway. Rey sighed and sat up, eyes opened but squinting against the light. She glared over at Kylo Ren, who had the hint of an amused smile on his face.   
“Do you mind closing the door?” She asked him.   
“As you wish.”   
“And coffee!”   
“Already made, Princess.”   
Rey smiled.   
“You know me so well.”   
Kylo Ren smiled to himself as he shut the door.   
Rey pushed herself up off the floor, walking over to her wardrobe. Every morning she looked at her closet and thought ‘I have too many clothes’. Yet, she was grateful for every single one of them and couldn’t find it in herself to get rid of any of them. For the Arrival, however, she wasn’t planning on wearing a dress. She walked through her endless supply of dresses, pushing her way to the back of the closet, where she hid her favorite outfit. Every time she wore it, her counselors tried to convince her to throw it out, but she couldn’t.   
It was grey, bland as the surface of Mercury. The pieces were complicated, just as Rey liked. With normal pants, a short, plain dress, a long scarf like, and arm wraps. It was completely plain and completely ordinary. It helped her fit in among the masses, which was rather useful on days such as this. Once dressed, she left her closet, and found herself back in her overly large room. Without looking in a single mirror, Rey parted her hair and put it into her signature three buns. She left her room, calling Nubs along with her. Kylo was in the kitchen, making breakfast.   
“You don’t have to make me breakfast,” Rey said, shoving her feet into a pair of boots.   
“When you learn how to cook more for yourself than pasta, I will stop making you breakfast,” he told her as she grabbed a cup of coffee. Rey rolled her eyes.   
“Maybe you’ll have to teach me.” She took a sip from the mug, letting the warmth of the brown liquid seep into her bones and push out the chill of the rainy day. Kylo snickered.   
“That would be the day.” He put a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her and returned to the french toast he was making.   
“Where did you learn to cook, anyhow?” She asked him through a mouth full off bacon and coffee. Kylo shrugged.   
“Here and there.”   
Rey sighed quietly, looking down at her plate of food. Kylo often fell quiet, giving short answers where long ones were desired, when the question pertains to his past. She knew not to press the question.   
“This bacon is really good,” she said, attempting to change the subject.   
“All kinds of food is good to you,” he replied, a bit of a laugh in his voice. Rey made a face at him behind his back, sticking out her tongue.   
“I’d keep that tongue in your mouth if I were you. You wouldn’t want someone to come up and cut it off,” Kylo said, his back still turned. Rey’s jaw fell slack.   
“You’ve got to teach me that, Ren. How do you do it?” She asked him. He turned towards her with a plate of French Toast.   
“It’s just natural. It’s a part of who I am.” He lifted his hand and as he did so, the coffee pot lifted into the air. He beckoned the pot towards them and poured the coffee into Rey’s mug, without so much as touching it once. Rey scoffed in amazement.   
“Did you have a trainer?”   
Again, Kylo fell silent.   
“I’m sorry, Ren, I don’t-”  
“It’s okay, Princess. You’re just making conversation.” He attempted to smile at her, but she could see the pain behind it. She reached out and touched his hand with a smile of her own.   
“You should eat quickly, Princess, or we’ll both be late.”

Kylo walked silently behind Rey as they walked through the already bustling market. The Arrival was to take place any minute. You couldn’t have whipped the smile from her face if you tried. She pushed past people using her staff, which she traded her royal scepter for before she left her room.   
The Trading ships had landed a few hours prior and the Traders were just starting to come upon the entrance of Mead Station. Rey couldn’t contain her excitement. Nubs sat at her feet, equally excited to see his best friend, Baby. Rey couldn’t wait to see Poe and Rose after all this time. She wondered what they would have in store for her and Mead Station this month.   
When the Hanger Bay opened, Rey stood on her toes, looking for any sign of her friends. A few people came out from the door and their respected families ran to meet them. She saw Rose and Poe and immediately ran to meet them. She threw her arms around her old friends with the biggest smile. They both gave her a quick hug, but their enthusiasm was not matched.   
“We need to show you something,” Poe whispered in her ear as she hugged them. She pulled away from them, scowling.   
“What is it?” She asked. “Is something wrong?”   
“You need to come with us now,” Rose said, her voice dire. There was never a time when Rey had seen Rose without a smile on her face. The fact that she was so serious now brought fear into Rey’s heart. She looked down and nodded.   
“Lead the way.”   
She looked back towards Kylo and twitched her head. His tall form pushed through the growing crowds of reuniting families towards them, bending over to scoop up Nubs as he went.   
Rey and Kylo followed Poe and Rose back through the Hanger Bay towards their ship. They followed quietly, heads down as to not attract any attention. As they boarded the ship, Rey spoke up.   
“Has something gone wrong?”   
“We’ve been thinking for years now that Mercury Station has gone dark side,” Poe said, marching through his ship.   
“Yes.”   
“Well, I think Rose and I just found proof.”   
Rey glanced over at Kylo, who had gone suddenly pale. Poe stopped in front of a storage door and punched in a passcode. The door slide open and at the sight of the thing inside, Rey took an alarmed step backwards.  
A dark skinned man dressed in white armor lay on the ground, his forehead dripping with blood. She stepped forwards to help him, but Poe grabbed her arm.   
“Wait,” Poe told her, staring down at her.   
“What is it, Poe?” She asked. “Is he the proof?”   
Poe nodded once.   
“Rose and I believe him to be a Mercurian Spy. He says he isn’t, but we thought we’d bring you here, just to ask your opinion.”   
Rey swallowed, not sure what to do. She looked down at the spy, not knowing what to say.   
“We’ll take him to the Palace, under the radar. We don’t want Mercury Station to know we have one of theirs, spy or no. We don’t want to worry our people, either.”  
“How do you propose we do that, Rey,” Poe asked. She sighed and looked him up and down.   
“There must be clothes underneath his armor. Strip him down to that and give him your jacket. Unload everything else and when he wakes up, take him back to my room. And do it covertly. Say whatever you need to to get him in.We’ll talk about this later,” Rey instructed. Poe nodded his head, watching her intently.   
“It will be done, Rey.”   
Rey sighed.   
“Kylo, will start helping Rose get things off the ship? We’ll be leaving soon to talk to the Council. Rose, you’ll need to be there in Poe’s stead.”  
Rose blanched.   
“Oh, Rey, I can’t...you know I’m not good with…-“  
Rey smiled and put a hand on her shy friend’s shoulder.   
“Rose, trust me, you’ll do brilliantly. But I need you to be there. Can you do that for me?” Rose nodded. “And say nothing about this spy.” Rose nodded again.   
“The two of you, go,” Rey instructed. Rose an Kylo bowed their heads and left her presence. Nubs saw Baby and ran after her, barking as he went.   
“Thank you, Poe,” she said after a few moments of silence between the two friends. “You know, this wasn’t how I imagined this day would go.”   
Poe laughed and it was music to her ears. Oh how she missed her friend.   
“Honestly, me neither. I imagined a lot more hugging and quite a few tears.”   
Rey looked up at Poe and smiled.   
“From you or me?”   
Poe laughed again.   
“That depends.”   
Before the moment could go on any longer, the spy woke up with a startled cry.   
He sat up, gasping and letting out strangled cries. He scrambled around on the floor, sweat beading down his forehead.   
“Hey, hey!” Rey ran towards the stranger and fell to her knees, putting her hands on his shoulders. “It’s okay.”  
The spy looked at her, breathing heavily. He glanced behind her towards Poe and yelped.   
“Poe, scram. Go help Rose. Find Kylo and my dog,” Rey commanded. Poe dipped his head and left the room. The spy scowled, still breathing deeply and shakily.   
“Who are you?” He asked. Rey smiled at him, a kindly smile.   
“I am Rey. You’re on Venus Station,” she told him. A smile broke across his face.   
“I’m at Venus Station?” He asked. “I made it?”   
Rey scowled.   
“What do you mean?” She stood suddenly, defensive. “We’re you sent here? Are you a spy?” She grabbed her staff from where it was placed against the doorframe.   
The man backed away from her and her staff.   
“No! Whatever that whacko pilot told you, I’m no spy. I’m was running from Mercury Station,” he told her, putting his hand up to protect himself.   
“Oh really? That sounds like something a spy would say,” she glared at him, pushing him against the ground with her staff. “If you obey everything my friend, the ‘whacko pilot’, tells you to do, I will listen to what you have to say and consider not throwing you in jail. Am I understood?”   
The man nodding quickly. Rey lowered her staff.   
“Good. What’s your name?”   
“FN-2187.”   
Rey lifted her staff again.   
“I swear! I swear, that’s the name they gave me. But your pilot friend is calling me Finn,” the man said. Rey lifted her chin.   
“Well, Finn, pray that whatever your story is, you tell no lies. Because if you do, I will find out about it, mark my words.”   
Finn nodded hurriedly. No more words were exchanged before Rey heard Kylo’s footsteps behind her. She turned towards him, still scowling.   
“Let’s get back to the Palace so I can change,” she said. “I need some coffee.”


	3. Chapter II: Snow and Raspberries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer. My apologies. :) Enjoy

Now dressed in her best, with her hair styled and makeup on, Rey sat before the Council, which included her counselors, the traders, and the lords and ladies of the sectors. Once a month, the Council got together, on Arrival day, and talked about things that needed to be talked about.   
Rey grew tired of this. It was always the same. Monotonous. It drew on and on with what seemed like no end. Yet, it was part of the job and she would do it. So she smiled and answered politely to the best of her abilities.   
This Council meeting was harder than most. She desired to retire to her room and speak with Finn, the not spy. She wanted to know his story. It was quite possibly the most important story she would hear today. She found herself drifting off into her daydreams, trying to imagine what horrors faced the man who was running from Mercury Station. It was said to be the most advanced of the stations, the best equipped with things anyone could possibly want. So why would he run?  
“Princess?” Rey lifted her head from her hand.   
“My apologies,” she said. “Please, tell me again, what’s troubling you?”   
The Lady of Sector 9 was a small, tan woman by the name of Maz Katana. She had large, brown eyes and ragged clothes, but she was a very kind, very wise woman. There was a reason Rey’s grandmother had placed her in charge of Sector 9 many, many years ago.   
“Nothing is troubling me, Dear,” she said. “I just wanted to tell you how grateful all of us in Sector 9 are for you command yesterday to rebuild our Sector and the buildings. You are truly a fair leader.”   
Rey smiled.   
“That is very kind of you, Maz. I had the idea to build a memorial for those who died trying to save the Sector, but I wouldn’t know where to get the funds or the names. Could you help me with that?”  
Maz smiled and nodded.   
“I would be most obliged, My Princess,” the old woman said before taking her seat.   
“Lords and Ladies, have you anything else to say?” Rey asked. No one spoke. “Good. Now, Traders, reports.”  
One by one, the Head Traders stood and gave their reports of imports and exports, what they still needed and what they could still give away, and their estimates for this month. When Rose stood, she was visibly shaking, but Rey smiled and gave her a sly wink, which made Rose smile. She gave the rest of her report with confidence.   
“Where’s Poe when you need him?” One Head Trader whispered to another. Before the Traders could even snicker, Rey stood, her face contorted in anger.   
“Get out of my Council Hall,” she said, hr voice deep with malcontent. The Trader looked up at her, horror stricken. “Get out of my Council Hall!”  
The Trader stood, his face red with shame, and scrambled out of the hall. The other Trader hung his head, playing with his fingers.   
“If I hear another word about Miss Tico, you can be sure that you will be banished from this Hall just the same,” Rey warned. The Council Hall had fallen completely silent. Rey took her seat again, shaking the anger away from her system. Rose looked up to Rey out of the corner of her eye as the next Trader stood, reporting with a shaking voice, and mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Rey, who responded with a quick smile.   
When the reports had finished, Rey asked for closing statements and dismissed the Council. She stood and mingled with the people for a few minutes, giving Rose a hug and whispering for her to make her way to the Royal Room. As she was leaving, Maz grabbed her arm.   
“You would make your mother proud,” she said. Rey smiled.   
“Thank you, Maz.”   
“I only wished you got to know them.”   
“I knew them for a year,” Rey responded, a strange feeling stirring in her gut. Maz chuckled.   
“There are so many things you don’t know.” Maz let go of Rey’s arm and melted into the crowd. Rey stood, frozen, looking for Maz through scowled eyes.   
“Prrincess?” Kylo stood beside Rey, watching her closely. “Is something wrong?” He looked around for some kind of threat.   
“Nothing is wrong, Ren. Let’s go back to my room. We have a guest waiting for us.” 

Rey arrived at her room to find Nubs and Baby asleep together in her pile of pillows. How she desired to be in their place.   
“Poe?” She called into the room. Poe popped his head out of her room.   
“We’re here, Rey,” he said to her. She smiled at the sight of him. After a long day such as this, she wanted to sink into her big pile of pillows and talk to Poe, and do nothing else. However, her job was unfinished.   
She walked towards her room. Kylo stayed behind to watch the door for a few minutes.   
Inside her bedroom, Rose knelt beside the bound up Finn, dabbing a wet cloth on his wound to clean the blood off. Poe stood above them, arms crossed.   
“Rey!” Finn yelled when he saw her. “Tell the I’m not a spy.”  
Rey, keeping her eyes on Finn, leaned towards Poe.   
“Was he problematic?” She asked him, loud enough for Finn to hear.   
“Didn’t make a peep all the way up here,” Poe told her. She nodded.   
“Good.”   
She stepped forward and walked around him, stalking him like prey.   
“He looks good in your jacket, Poe,” she said. Finn scowled.   
“Who are you?” He asked.   
Rey squatted in front of him (which was rather difficult in the dress she was wearing. She was very impressed that she had managed it at all).  
“This is Rose Tico,” Rey said, showing her hand towards the woman dressing his wound. He looked over at Rose and a blush keeper up we cheeks and she looked away. “Behind me is Poe Dameron. They are traders and my friends.”  
“Them I know,” he said, a hint of disdain in his voice. “But it’s you I want to know about. You go about giving people commands as if you own them.”  
Rey almost laughed.   
“In a sense, I do own them. They are my subjects, and I, their ruler.”   
Recognition suddenly crossed the man’s face.   
“You’re Princess Rey, Regent of the Venus Station,” he said and she smiled.   
“Congratulations.” Rey stood. “Now, Finn, tell me. What’s your story?”   
Finn breathed in a heavily breath.   
“Poe, can you get him some water?” She whispered to her friend, who dipped his head and left the room. “Rose.” Rey’s tone of voice indicated that she wanted to be alone.  
“Thank you,” Finn muttered to Rose as she stood. Rose smiled and gave him a curt nod. Rey turned her attention back to Finn.   
“I grew up in Troopers border school. I assume you know that the Troopers are the military force of the Mercury Station. I was either taken from my family or given up either way, I grew up to be a Trooper. I grew up close to the Supreme Leader. It’s not good, Highness, it’s really not good.”  
“What do you mean?”   
“The Troopers, we’re taught from a young age that Mercury Station is the superior station, that we’re the superior beings. Supreme Leader Snoke is one of the Gifted with powers, but no one ever sees him except our General, Armitage Hux. I don’t even know where to begin with everything they’ve done and everything they plan on doing. I don’t know much because I worked sanitation, but I hope that, if I give you enough information, you’ll give me passage to Moon Station”  
“Moon Station? Moon Station is radio silent. We don’t know if they’re still there.”   
“I think they are, Rey. I think they’re out there and I want to get there, as far away from Mercury Station as possible. Will you help me?”   
Rey sighed and thought for a moment.   
“If you give me answers, I risk the lives of one of my pilots to take you to Moon Station?”   
“Yes.”  
“Okay,” Rey said, after a few seconds of thinking. “It’s a deal.” They had just shaken hands when Poe returned with the water.   
“So, what do you know?”   
“I know that Mercury Station is part of the reason Moon Station went radio silent. Don’t know how, but something happened. The heir to Moon Station, Ben Solo, went crazy. He joined Mercury Station and it’s rumored that he killed some people along the way. He was only 19 at the time. A little while after that is when they went off the grid. It’s also said that the Queen’s brother went missing.”  
“It was around the time of my parents’ disappearance too. Do you know anything about that?” She asked him hopefully. Finn shook his head.   
“I don’t, I’m sorry.”  
“It’s alright. So tell me, why did you decide to leave now?”   
“I was sent on my first ground mission. Our Captain, Phasma, had us go to a village sector that was stirring up a riot and-“ his voice broke. “You don’t want to make the Supreme Leader angry. It doesn’t end well.”   
Rey felt her stomach twist. She couldn’t imagine such a cruel leader who would do such a thing.   
“I couldn’t stomach it,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. Tears brimmed his eyes. “So I stowed away on a Trading ship. Your fiend, Poe’s. They found me, still in my uniform. They thought I was a spy, obviously, knocked me out, and brought me here.”   
Rey sighed.   
“I don’t know why, but I believe you,” she said. Finn let out a sigh of relief.   
“Oh, thank God. I was afraid you were gonna feed me to a rathtar or something.”   
“What’s a rathtar?” She asked. He looked up at her like she was some kind of dunce.   
“A rathtar? Big, slimy, tentacles… never mind. Thank you for believing me,” he told her. She smiled and nodded.   
“It’s my duty to tell the liars from those who speak truth.”   
She offered him a hand up.   
“Let’s get you some food and get those bonds cut. I’ll arrange for passage to Moon Station. If no one’s there, you’ll have to come back here, you know.”   
Finn nodded.   
“We’ve sent people out there before and none of them have returned, so be sure this is what you want,” she told him as she cut the rope around his wrists with the dagger she kept under her pillow.   
“A dagger underneath your pillow. Remind me to never get on your bad side.”  
Rey smiled at him and lead him from her room into the Common Area, where Rose and Poe were talking quietly in the kitchen.   
“Where’s my bodyguard?” Rey asked.   
“In his room,” Rose told her. Rey nodded.   
“I love your dog, by the way,” Finn said as she lead him to a chair. She grinned at him.   
“Thank you. Nubs was a gift from my mother before they left.”  
“Do you know anything about what happened to your parents?” Finn asked her. She shook her head.   
“All I know is that they left to see what the situation was with Moon Station and never returned.”   
Finn hung his head.   
“I’m sorry, Rey. That must be hard.”  
She offered him a small smile.   
“It’s alright.” She looked up, unable to speak of it any longer. “Ren? Ren, could you make us some dinner please?”   
“Yes, Princess,” Kylo said through his door.   
“I can make dinner,” Poe said. She smiled at him.   
“That’s alright, Poe. Kylo makes very good food.”   
She looked back to Finn, who was scowling.   
“What’s wrong?” She asked him.   
“Ren, the name sounds familiar.”  
“Oh, it’s a school on Mercury Station for training guards. They’re called Knights of Ren. I thought you would know that,” she told him.   
“Hmm.”   
Rey smiled as Kylo opened the door.   
“Ren! It’s been a very long day for the both of us. How are you doing?” Kylo was most evidently staring at Finn as he exited his room.   
“I am fine, Princess. What would you like for dinner?”   
“Whatever you want to make.”   
Kylo rushed into the kitchen, pushing past Rose and Poe. Her Trader friends and her bodyguard never had gotten along and it made her sad. She guessed they were cut from different kinds of cloth. The two traders took their seats on a couch across from Rey and Finn.   
“So, he’s apart of our squad now?” Poe asked. Rey laughed.   
“He’s given me some very useful information. I’m going to find a pilot to take him to Moon Station.” As Rey said this, Kylo dropped something but picked it up quickly and carried on what he was doing.   
“The Moon Station?” Rose asked, concern in her voice. “No one’s ever come back from the Moon Station.”   
“Why would you want to go there?” Poe asked.   
“I need to get as far away from Mercury Station as I can get. They’ll be looking for you and I don’t want you to get into any trouble,” Finn told the. “Moon Station is radio silent, as you all know. And, like you said, no one comes back from Moon Station, so they won’t be looking for me there.”   
Poe nodded.   
“I can take you,” he said. Finn’s face lit up, but Rey shook her head.   
“Absolutely not,” she replied. “You’re needed in this Trading month.”  
“But I’m your best pilot! I can get him there and back,” Poe objected. Rey gave him a reassuring smile.   
“I know that, but you’re also our best trader. We can’t miss you this month. We’re already behind on certain supplies.”   
“Then who will go? Who can fly and won’t ask any questions?”   
All three pairs of eyes suddenly turned to Rose. When she realized they were looking at her, her eyes widened.   
“Me?” She asked, her voice breaking.   
“Rose, you’re perfect for this job!” Rey said. “I trust you. You’re a good flier. You’ve learned under Poe enough to know how to get there and come back. Poe can take someone else with him just for this month. I know you can do this.”   
Rose’s hands started to shake. Finn reached across the empty space between them and touched her hands.   
“If it means anything at all, I trust you too. I may have known you guys for a few days, and most of those days I spent unconscious, but I trust you.”  
“You’re way too trusting, my friend,” Poe said with a laugh.   
It was weird, Rey thought, how quickly her friends had become so welcoming to Finn. Not a few minutes earlier, he was a threat, yet now they were laughing like old friends. Could it be because she had said so? Did they really trust her judgement so much that they would trust Finn simply at her command?   
She stood, lifting her skirts, and swept her way towards the kitchen, allowing for her friends to mingle with the newcomer.   
She leaned against the counter, watching Kylo methodically cut a beautiful red tomato that Poe had brought from his Trading.   
“What are you thinking?” She asked him, her voice low. He didn’t respond. “Kylo, please. You know I value your opinion. This isn’t really a decision I want to make on my own.”   
Kylo Ren scoffed.   
“You’ve already made your decision, Princess, from the looks of it. Finn is apparently to be trusted and you’re sending one of your friends on a suicide mission.” His words were intolerably calm, except for when he said Finn’s name. Rey scowled and crossed her arms.   
“Kylo, will you tell me what’s wrong or will you continue to brush me off as if I am nothing more than a nuisance to you?” Her voice was harsher than she meant it to be. Kylo stopped cutting the tomato and set the knife down with a force that made Rey jump.   
“I don’t trust him,” Kylo said, turning to her with a cool look in his eyes. “I don’t trust anyone from Mercury Station. Neither should you.”  
“You’re from Mercury Station.”  
“I wouldn’t trust me if I were you,” he said, picking up the knife again. Rey breathed out an angry sigh.   
“What is with you? Why won’t you just talk to me?” He stayed silent. Rey scoffed and pushed away from the counter. She walked past her friends and towards her door.   
“Where are you going, Rey?” Rose asked. Rey looked back at them and forced a smile.   
“Just going for a walk,” Rey told her. She opened the door and slipped out into the dark hallway. Still dressed in her best, Rey wandered the labyrinthian halls alone. Although it wasn’t cold, she shivered. Loneliness encased her and she didn’t understand why. She tried to keep her head high in case there were any counselors out and about. She couldn’t risk looking weak among them, no matter her circumstances.   
She found herself leaving the confines of the Palace, completely lost in thought.   
Why was it that Finn managed to find his way to her on the 10 year anniversary of her parents’ disappearance? Was it a coincidence? Nothing was ever a coincidence, her father had told her once upon a time. And Kylo had been acting strangely since he arrived, as if Finn was somehow a connection back into that life he didn’t like to talk about. For all the time Kylo had been her bodyguard, he had never spoken of his past, only that he came from Mercury Station and went to a school for guards. Of course, Mercury Station kept everything they did under lock and key so there was no way to do a background check on him. Not that she needed to. Something inside Rey had always told her to trust Kylo Ren, even before he saved her life.   
And what did all of this have to do with the silence of Moon Station and the disappearance of her parents? They were connected, she was sure. But how?   
“Princess?” The one word drew Rey from her thoughts. She found that she had wandered out of Sector 1 entirely and made her way to the remnants of Sector 9, from the looks of it. “Princess, what are you doing out so late?”   
Rey turned to find Maz Katana standing behind her. Rey smiled brightly at the small woman.   
“I was just thinking. I must have been lost in thought,” she told the woman. Maz smile, wrinkles appearing underneath her large, brown eyes.   
“I completely understand that, my dear. Would you like to come to my house for some hot tea before you head home?” Maz asked. Rey nodded and followed the elderly lady back towards her house a few yards up the road Rey had just walked down. Maz’s house was one of the few that had survived the tremor that decimated most of the rest of Sector 9. Like most of the buildings in Sector 9, Maz’s house had a name. She named her many years ago Takodana. Where the name come from, Maz never said and Rey didn’t feel the need to ask. Whatever it was, it was important to the woman.   
The inside of the house was as cozy and homey as Rey could ever imagine. She had never been inside before, for most of her meetings with Maz usually took place in the Palace. There were rugs of all different shades of warm browns and oranges and reds everywhere on the floor and on the walls. There was a blazing fire that filled the entire room with warmth that spread through Rey, pushing out the chill that engrossed her. Maz lead her to a large sofa and told her to sit.   
“I’ll go get some tea ready,” Maz said. As the old woman hobbled towards the kitchen, Rey looked around the room to find people laying on the rugs under layers of blankets. In this one large, living room alone, there must had been 13 people asleep on the floor. This house was big and, from what Rey knew, Maz had her help were the only ones who lived in it. For all Rey knew, her rooms could have been filled with sleeping people in the same way. She knew they were those who had lost their homes after the tremor. Maz had opened her home to those who had nowhere else to go.   
Rey saw, sleeping on a couch across from her, a young boy with sandy colored hair and fair skin. He was curled up in a pile of blankets, his face soft and peaceful. She smiled at the sight of him. Maz returned with a warm cup of tea.   
“Who is that boy?” Rey asked, nodding over to the small boy.   
“His name is Jacen. He was the only of his family who survived. His twin sister, Jaina, and his mother, Wynter, were both lost to the tremor,” Maz told her. Rey felt incredibly sad by this. Tears brimmed in her eyes.   
“He has no one? No family? No father?” Rey asked, trying to keep her voice steady and doing so by taking a sip of tea. Maz lowered her head and let out a sigh.   
“Not that we’ve heard of yet.”   
Rey’s lower lip quivered and she covered it up by taking a sip of tea. Maz lifted her head suddenly, as if listening to something that Rey couldn’t even hear.   
“Pardon my, dear.” Maz patted Rey’s knee and stood, disappearing down a hallway. Rey’s eyes continued to wander around the people in the room. She sipped her tea as she watched them sleep. Rey was known among the poorer people in Sector 1, but these people were unfamiliar. She regretted that she didn’t have to time to meet every single one of them. She wanted to know her people, and it made her sad to know that it was impossible.   
“Rey,” the wind whispered. Rey scowled and looked around, expecting one of the people in the room to have awoken, but there was no one. Rey raised her eyebrows and turned back to her tea. “Rey.”   
Rey stood, turning around, skirts in her hand, ready to run. How foolish was she to leave her room without her bodyguard? She shook the thought away immediately. She was probably just tired. There probably wasn’t even a voice at all.   
Just then, a scream filled the air, coming from down the hall. With a gasp, Rey dropped the tea and picked up her skirts, running towards the scream. It was a child, she could tell. A terrified child.   
“Please!” The child screamed. “No!”   
Rey ran down the hallway, past doors and and stairway. At the end of the hallway was an old wooden door. Without thinking, she wrenched it open. She found herself running down a dark set of stairs. The screaming from the child got louder and clearer the further down she got. She reached the bottom and a light flickered on. She slowed to a walk as the screaming stopped.   
All over the ground were old boxes. Some of them were open and had strange, old artifacts in them. Most of the artifacts looked as if they were Old Earth things. In a small case was a black rectangular thing. It had buttons on the side and a circle button on the bottom front. Rey reached forward and pressed the circle button. Nothing happened. She pressed it again and, to her surprise, a much smaller rectangle appeared in the middle. There was a red line inside the rectangle. Rey scowled and moved away from the living rectangle.   
Her gut pulled her forward deep into the sea of boxes. Somewhere near the back of the basement, Rey came to a stop at an old, metal box. Just seeing it brought tears to her eyes and she knew not why. Her gut churned and she fell to her knees in front of the box. She reached out to touch the box. As she blinked, tears fell from her lashes onto her face. When she opened the box, the thing on the inside was most peculiar. It was a handle of some sort with all kinds of knobs on it. Rey felt utterly drawn to it in a way she couldn’t understand.   
She reached out towards the thing and, just as she touched it, she was sucked into a wormhole of memories that didn’t belong to her.   
A boy sat on the ground in a corner, tears running down his face.   
“Please,” the boy sobbed. His hair was dark and long. “Please, don’t send me away.”   
She stepped forward to comfort the boy, but just as she put her arms around him, he disappeared. The walls disappeared as well. With nothing to lean on, Rey stumbled forward, hitting her knees against coarse rock. The ground she was on was grey and dusty. At first she thought she was Mercury Station, but when she stood and saw Earth, she knew she was on the Moon. She stood in awe of the Earth for a few seconds, before she heard the screams. She whipped around to see a red, sword of sorts in her face. She had seen things like it before; lightsabers they had been called. The man wielding the red lightsaber swung it at her, but a green lightsaber burst through his chest before he could harm her. A scream came from Rey as she fell backwards. She saw a large building in shambles on the ground. Screams came from everywhere. Bodies littered the ground.   
A group of red lightsaber wielders marched about. The one that seemed to be the leader was wearing all black, including a black mask. His lightsaber was strange, different from the others. Out of the sides were two juts of the same red energy, almost like crossguards. Instability pulsed off of the man as he walked. Even though he was yards away from her, she could feel anger and hatred radiating from him. She crawled backwards away from the carnage. As she crawled backwards, the scene changed yet again.   
She was surrounded by something soft and white. It was dark and there large...things...growing out of the ground. After a few seconds she realized that those things were trees. Real trees. They were covered in the white stuff, just like the ground was. It fell from the sky, softly, gently. A word came to her; snow.   
Where was she?   
It didn’t matter where she was at that moment because a crowd of Troopers came marching out of the snow. Rey stood, hiking up her skirts, ready to run as they began to shoot. She ran as fast as she could in heels in the snow. The Troopers shot, one after the other. She was thankful for their terrible aim, but she knew that her luck would soon run out and they would hit her. She tripped over her torn skirts. She turned to see the Troopers continue to advance her. Lifting her arms to protect herself, Rey thought she was dead meat. If she was wearing anything other than this dress she may have been able to fight back, but she wasn’t.   
She was going to die.   
Then out of the shadows stepped her savior. Wearing black robes and a mask like the man before, Rey was hardly surprised when he opened his lightsaber and it was the same red, crossguard one that she had seen before. Once again, she was crawling away from him, but this time, it seemed as if he was trying to protect her, not kill her.   
She crawled backwards until she slipped off the edge of a cliff. She whimpered as she fell, reaching out towards the edge of the cliff that was getting rapidly farther and farther away. She saw, just barely, the silhouette of the man with the red lightsaber.   
“Rey!” He screamed after her.   
She knew the ground was coming and she squeezed her eyes shut. She hit the ground and felt a second of the impact, but there was no pain. When she opened her eyes, she was no longer on the snowy planet with the tall trees. There was no cliff above her. She was back in the basement of Takodana. She was lay on the ground, sweating and tears flowing from her eyes. She sat up quickly and found that her dress was still perfectly intact. Rey spun around, ready to run far, far away from the box and the handle inside of it, only to find Maz standing silently behind her.   
“I...I’m sorry, Maz. I didn’t mean-” Rey could hardly speak, for her voice shook so much. Ragged breathes shook her. Maz stepped forward. “I shouldn’t have come down here.”   
“There is no need for apologies, my child,” Maz said with a smile. She stepped forward again and took Rey’s hands. Rey knelt to the ground so she could look Maz in the eyes.   
“What was that, Maz?” She asked. Maz walked past her and picked up the handle.   
“This is a lightsaber, Princess,” Maz said, looking it over. “It belonged to Luke Skywalker, and his father before him.”   
Rey scowled. Skywalker? Why was that name familiar?   
“Skywalker!” She said suddenly. “Luke Skywalker. He was the sister of Leia Organa, Queen of Moon Station. My mother said that Luke had a school to train those who were gifted, with powers. But disappeared a few years before Moon Station went silent.”   
Maz nodded sadly.   
“The school was destroyed, the trainees killed.” Images of the crumbled building and the bodies littered about the Moon passed through Rey’s mind. “Luke Skywalker left in sadness to where, no one knows. And now, his lightsaber calls to you.”   
Rey knit her eyebrows together, narrowing her eyes.   
“I don’t understand.”   
“Dear child, you know the truth. I see it in your eyes. There is a reason the families who rule the three stations were put in their position. You must understand.”   
“But I don’t.”   
“Those powers you speak of, some call it the Force. Those who use it are known among few as Jedi. I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes. Feel it.” Rey, against better judgement, did as Maz told her. She closed her eyes and waited for something to happen. Anything. Something to explain everything. “The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead. The light. It has always been there. It will guide you.”   
The tears returned to her eyes as she thought about her parents. About how much time she spent looking for them without risking any lives. About how much she longed to see them again.   
She opened her eyes, unable to bare it any longer. Maz sighed.   
“The lightsaber, take it,” Maz urged. Rey stood and backed away as if the thing carried the plague itself.   
“I’m never touching that again,” Rey said, her voice deep and low. She picked up her skirts again and ran away from Maz, back up the stairs, back down the hallway, past the sleeping boy and out into the streets of Sector 9. She fell to the ground on the street, tearing her dress. She pressed the palm of her hand against her eyes in hopes of stopping the tears from continuing down her face. Sobs racked her body.  
“Rey? Rey!” Rey looked up to see none other than Poe Dameron running towards her down the street. Rey sniffed, trying to stifle her tears. She ran the back of her hand under her nose as she stood.   
“Poe, what are you doing here?” She asked him as she jogged to meet him. He put his arms around her and held her close.   
“You’ve been gone for hours. Your bloodhound and I thought we should come to look for you. I was worried.” He brushed the loose strands of hair out of her face. Rey managed a smile.   
“I’m alright. I was just talking to Maz. Lost track of the time,” she lied easily. She thought for a brief moment of telling him about her visions, about the strange things Maz was telling her, about all the bad feelings she was having recently. But she kept her mouth shut and smiled instead.   
“Why were you on the ground?” He asked.   
“I tripped, skinned my knee.”   
“Were you crying?”   
“No. It’s just cold, made my nose run.”   
“I was worried about you,” he said again. She smiled for real this time.   
“I can handle myself.”   
The two started their way back to the Palace.   
“I know that. I’ve never doubted it,” he told her with a smile. Rey sighed a happy sigh and for the briefest of seconds, she forgot about the horrors that took place within Takodana’s walls. Yet, as soon as she remembered, her mood went sour yet again.   
“What were you and Maz talking about?” Poe asked as they strolled.   
“My parents,” she told him. It was a partial truth. Her parents were part of the riddle that had yet to be solved. Poe stayed silent for a few moments.   
“I brought something for you, from Trading,” he told her finally. Rey looked over and gave him a soft smile.   
“You didn’t have to-”  
Before she could continue, Poe pulled out a small wooden box from the satchel that he carried. He opened it and Rey froze in her place, a smile breaking out on her face.   
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, all negative feelings once again vanquished. “How did you get these?” She pulled one of the large, red berries out of the box.   
“With a dazzling smile and a charming personality,” he told her with a grin. Rey laughed and put one of the raspberries in her mouth. Her eyes rolled into her head as she savored the taste.   
“These are my favorite,” she said happily. Poe’s grin stuck.   
“I know.”   
As they continued the walk back to the Palace, the only sound that passed between them was the sound of Rey munching on her favorite delicacies. Once they reached her room, Poe shut the box and handed them to her.   
“Don’t eat all of them, otherwise you’ll have to wait an entire month before I can get more,” he told her. Rey laughed.   
“Thank you for coming to get me,” she told him. He shrugged.   
“That’s what friends are for.” Neither said anything for a few moments. “Rose took Finn to my room for the night. Don’t worry about anything tonight. Sleep well, Rey.”   
“Sleep well, my friend.”   
Poe turned away from her and walked down the hall. Rey opened the door and walked into her room. As soon as Poe was out of her sight, everything from the day came flooding back to her in a wave of exhaustion. She sat down at the bar in her kitchen, setting the raspberry box down a little harder than she meant to.   
Kylo opened the door with the deadliest scowl she had ever seen.   
“Where were you?” He asked, his voice deadly and low. Rey put her head in her hands.   
“Please don’t yell at me,” she asked, feeling the waterworks begin again. Kylo’s face softened at the sight of his upset friend. He didn’t know what to do. He walked over and sat beside her. She breathed heavily, trying to keep her tears from falling. Just having him sit beside her was comforting, but he would never know it. He just sat beside her for the night, even when she fell asleep, He contemplated carry her to bed as he had done the night before, but he wanted to sit beside her. He didn’t ever want to leave her side.   
He would never leave her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was longer. It was either two really short chapters or one long chapter and I thought one long chapter was a better idea. I hope you enjoyed. :)


	4. Chapter III: Raspberry Bile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Enjoy!

Rey awoke with a kink in her neck like she had never felt before. She was still sitting on the same stool sprawled across the counter. When she sat up, her hair was still a mess and her face felt red and numb. Beside her was the sleeping form of her bodyguard. He was laying on his arms, his long, dark hair covering most of his face. He looked absolutely peaceful in his sleep as if nothing of this world could touch him.   
She moved to leave the seat in hopes of stretching her legs before she went to work, but as she stood, his hand shot out from under his head and grabbed her wrist. Rey gasped at his touch. When she looked at him, he still seemed to be asleep. She sat back down and he let her wrist go, shifting as he did so.  
Her room was silent, almost unbearably so. Nubs was sleeping soundly in her pile of pillows. Rey reached up to wake Kylo, knowing that she needed to get work done, especially in the aspect of Finn and her other two friends. As soon as she touched his shoulder, even though she did so lightly, his head shot up. Rey jumped backward slightly, but cracked a smile as Kylo tried to move the curtain of hair out of his eyes so he could see. He looked over at her to see her hiding a laugh behind her hands. A smile of his own crossed his lips for a brief second.   
“You didn’t have to sleep with me, you know,” Rey said, standing from the stool. She flushed red when she realized what she said. “Not...like that. I mean, you could have gone to your own room.”  
Kylo rubbed his sore neck and shuffled into the kitchen.   
“Thought you could use the company.”   
There was a moment of silence.   
“I think I should go change into something a little less worn,” she said. Kylo grumbled his response.   
Rey, with the ghost of a smile on her lips, entered her room and began the grueling process of changing her outfit. Her limbs were sore from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position, so she moved slowly.Her eyelids heavy, she grabbed the first dress she could get her hands on, not caring that it was a terrible shade of yellow that did not go very well with her complexion. Standing in front of her mirror, she sighed at the state of her hair and makeup. She sat down in front of her vanity, slowly untangling the knots in her hair with her hairbrush. She watched her reflection mimic her movements. The girl in the mirror stared back at her and Rey’s gut began to twist and churn and the longer she looked, the more she felt the urge to vomit. She stood so quickly she knocked over her chair. She ran as fast as her feet could take her to the nearest trash can, barely making it before all the contents of her stomach came hurling from her mouth. Bitter tears rolled down her cheeks as she heaved, one hand on her stomach and one on the brim of the trash can.   
“Princess!”  
“Rey!”  
Rey looked up out of the corner of her eye to see Poe Dameron running into her quarters, straight toward her. Kylo Ren was standing by his door, worry in his eyes.   
“Ren, the door,” Rey croaked, looking back at the trash can as she felt more of nothing rise in her throat. Kylo raced toward the front door that Poe had opened and shut it, just before someone walked by. Poe knelt beside Rey, holding her hair away from her face and rubbing her back. Rey dry heaved until her body sagged from exhaustion.   
“Water,” Kylo said, handing a glass to Poe. Poe offered the glass to Rey, but she turned her head away.   
“Rey, you have to drink something,” he told her, his voice in a whisper. She shook her head, afraid that if she opened her mouth, the vomiting would start again. Poe set the water down and continued rubbing her back. “What’s wrong?”   
Rey shook her head. He helped her stand and lead her toward a chair. She fell into the chair with a sigh and closed her eyes.   
“What happened?” Poe whispered to Kylo.   
“She was just changing.” Kylo couldn’t take his eyes away from his Princess, worried. Poe sighed and put his hands on his hips.   
“Rey, can you tell us what happened?”   
Rey pushed herself up a little.   
“I was just brushing my hair and...I don’t know what came over me. It’s probably the stress.” But Rey couldn’t deny the feeling in her gut that it had something to do with the vision she had yesterday at Maz’s. She hadn’t thought about it until just then. She put her face in her hands, covering her eyes from the worried stares of her friends. “Can I have that water now?”   
Kylo moved to get the water. Poe crouched in front of her, putting his hands on her knees.   
“Are you okay, Rey?” Poe asked in her a whisper, quiet enough that he thought Kylo couldn’t hear him. “Did something happen to you last night that you don’t want to tell me? Did someone hurt you?”   
Rey knew to what he was referring to, but she couldn’t help thinking about the vision and the man dressed in black. He had tried to kill her and then he tried to save her. It didn’t make any sense. Nothing about the vision made sense.   
“Rey, did something happen?”   
Rey shook her head, clearing her eyesight and focusing back on Poe. He looked so worried. She couldn’t bear to see him worried. She tried to smile.   
“Nothing happened last night, Poe, I promise. I’m just tired and a little stressed out,” she told him, with her biggest and brightest smile, the one she used all the time with her counselors. Poe sighed, knowing the look on her face wasn’t genuine.   
“Alright. Come on, we need to get your hair and makeup done. You need to do inventory today and we still need to make plans for Rose and Finn,” Poe told her, holding out his hand to help her up. “And that dress looks ghastly on you. You really need to change, and maybe burn it.”   
Rey finally smiled a real smile. She took his hand and he pulled her up to her feet. Kylo returned with the glass of water. She took it gladly and began to sip from it slowly. 

An hour later, Rey was wearing a deep blue dress that fitted her much better, her hair twisted into a crown of dark hair. Her makeup was done in such a way that covered up the bags under the eyes and the green coloring of her face. She walked beside Trader after Trader, listening to them call out the numbers of supplies they had. Her heart sank when the numbers were low, but she smiled when most of them were high. She handed the money to the Traders herself, a genuine smile on her face.  
The Traders were among some of Rey’s favorite people. They were mostly joyous and adventurous and they loved their jobs. They weren’t all young in age, but they were all young in spirit. Even those with grey hair and wrinkled skin had the smiles of children gazing upon the wonders of the world. They always managed to lift her spirits. Inside jokes were spoken between Traders like a secret language. Jesting insults were tossed back and forth as they walked along. Rey got to hear all of the best stories of their small corner of the galaxy. Inventory was quite possibly Rey’s favorite day of the month.   
And it was all over too quickly. The jokes and the stories and the insults that covered up the impending sense of fear that Rey just couldn’t shake were suddenly gone and she was left with that void in her stomach.   
“We need to talk about the Trooper,” Kylo said to her as she walked into her room that night.   
“Yes, we do,” she agreed with a sigh as she plopped herself into her chair. Nubs ran out of his little house and jumped on her lap, tongue hanging happily from his mouth. Rey took joy in rubbing his head.   
“I don’t think sending him is a good idea, especially not with Tico,” Kylo told her.   
“What’s wrong with Rose?”   
“She’s young and naive and she doesn’t know what she’s doing. She lacks confidence and-”  
Rey lifted her hand and he shut his mouth quickly.   
“Rose is older than I am, Ren,” Rey told him, sitting straighter in her chair. “Do you think I am unfit for my crown?”   
“Not at all, Princess, but you and Tico are very different. She is like a child and you are….”  
“I am what?”   
“Mature, Princess. I don’t think Tico can be trusted with this mission, and I don’t think there should be a mission to begin with,” he said, standing in front of her, hands folded behind his back. Rey sighed, interlocking her fingers and resting her chin on her hands.   
“Why?” she asked.   
“We have no idea that this Trooper is telling the truth.”   
“I believe him.”   
“Right, Princess, of course, but we don’t know anything about him.”   
“Ren,” Rey scowled, pushing herself forward. “Tell me about your time at the Mercury Station.”   
Kylo paled, his shoulders and arms tensing. His jaw clenched.   
“I trained at the Ren Academy,” he said. Rey scoffed.   
“See, you say that I know nothing about Finn so I shouldn’t trust him, but I know nothing about you, yet I trust you. What’s the difference?” She asked him. Kylo sighed deeply, looking at the ground.   
“You are correct, Princess. It wasn’t my place to defy you.”   
“Don’t be like that, Ren,” she said, standing. He looked up at her.   
“Like what?”   
“Don’t shut me out.”   
“I’m not.”   
“Then tell me about your time at Mercury Station. Where are you from? What was your last name before you graduated? What was your family like?” Kylo flinched at the word as if it somehow scarred him, but he said nothing. Rey sighed. “I wonder, Ren, why you never said anything about the mistreatment of the Mercury Station. I find it hard to believe that as a man training to be a guard for the Supreme Leader knew nothing about his cruelty.”   
Kylo’s eyes narrowed and darkened.   
“Are you questioning my loyalty to you, Princess?”  
She stepped closer to him until she was standing barely apart from him.   
“Of course not, Ren. After all that you’ve done for me, I couldn’t. But why didn’t you tell me? We could have done something sooner-”  
“There is nothing that can be done. I believe my leaving Mercury Station and the Academy proves well enough how we were treated, and how I did not agree with what was done,” Ren said. Rey lowered her eyes, breathed deeply, then returned her gaze to his.   
“I trust you, Ren. I always have. I just ask that now you trust me.” Kylo said nothing, only staring into her eyes. “We can solve these riddles that have been plaguing us, Ren. We can figure out what happened at Moon Station. We can figure out how to help those innocent in Mercury Station. We can figure out this whole thing with the Royalty and their connection to the mutation. We can...maybe we can even find my parents.”   
“How do you know that all these questions need answering? What if you don’t want to know?”   
Rey’s mouth went dry.   
“I have to find my parents, Ren. I can’t live not knowing.”   
Kylo nodded.   
“Then I will help you, Princess, no matter the cost. But, just understand, you may find answers to questions you didn’t want to ask, and you might not like those answers.”   
Rey’s blood went cold and thoughts of her vision floated through her mind. She felt the snow on her skin and she shivered.   
“Are you alright?” She heard Kylo ask her. She shook her head and pressed her fingers against her temple. “Princess, I think you need to rest.”   
“No, Ren. I need to go talk to Rose and Finn and get them ready for their journey. I can rest afterward.”   
“Princess-”  
Rey pushed past Kylo, brushing the wrinkles out of her dress as she moved. The tight bodice felt suddenly restricting as she moved. She put a hand over her stomach and carried on. Kylo growled to himself and followed after her.   
Rey didn’t know how she made it to Poe’s room without passing out. Her vision blackened multiple times as she walked, but she forced her legs to move forward and kept her chin up so as to keep her tiara from slipping off.   
She didn’t knock when she got to Poe’s room. She opened the door, startling the three people sitting in small chairs.   
She was always upset with the size of Poe Dameron’s room, but it was the only room that was available for Poe. When he and Rose started working together, Rose moved in with him, and Rey knew the room was too small, but there was nothing she could do about it to help. They had no more rooms available.   
“Rey, we thought you were...someone else,” Rose said with a smile. Rose approached her with a hug. Rey accepted the hug and made her way toward the last of the chairs in the room. Kylo entered the room right behind her, standing as close to the door as possible.   
“How are you feeling?” Poe asked her. Rey smiled.   
“I’m fine. I’m here to discuss our mission,” she said. Finn leaned forward.   
“Good. I am grateful for your hospitality, but I really need to get out of here before they catch up with me. If you were smart, you would all be running too,” Finn told them, the last statement more of a grumble than a statement.   
“What do you mean by that?” Rey asked with a scowl.   
“I saw just a fraction of the power of the Mercury Station in my time there. I can’t imagine the desolation they will cause when they decide to take over the Venus Station,” Finn told her. Rey’s scowl deepened.   
“When?”   
“Like I said before, Mercury Station think they’re better than everyone else. There is no way they won’t turn their attention to your station, Rey. It doesn’t matter if, it’s when.”   
“We can fight them,” Rose said almost cheerfully.   
“We have a very well trained army, Finn. We are prepared for any invasion of any kind. My grandparents were even preparing for a possible invasion. We are well suited for any kind of attack,” Rey told him confidently. Fear twisted Finn’s face. He leaned further forward, hands shaking as he tried to emphasize his point.   
“There is no fighting the Mercury Station, Rey.”  
Rey sighed, her eyebrows furrowing. She glanced over to Kylo, who was standing as stoic as ever. Her lips twitched and she looked back over at Finn.   
“You and Rose will leave for the Moon Station tonight. If you really think that the Mercury Station is gunning for us, find out what you can about why the Moon Station went silent. Find Leia Organa and ask her about her brother, about her son, about my family. Get as much information as you can and report back to me. I need to know everything,” Rey asked.   
“So, this is more than just drop Finn off and come back?” Rose asked, fiddling with her fingers. Rey reached out and grabbed Rose’s hands and smiled.   
“I trust you, Rose. You and Finn can do this,” she said.   
“Woah, woah, woah,” Finn said, raising his hands. “No offense, Rey, but once I land on Moon Station, I’m never coming back. I’m changing my name and going as deep as I can. I’m sorry, Rey, I can’t help you.”   
“After everything we’ve-”  
“Poe, that’s enough. This is his choice.” Rey raised her hand at Poe to interrupt his protest. “I am disappointed, Finn, but this is your choice. You have risked a lot coming here. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”   
Unsure of why his unwillingness to help made Rey so angry and so hurt at the same time, she stood, turning away from him. The dizziness started in her head again.   
“Poe, finish gathering the supplies they need. I can pay you extra tomorrow. You two need to be gone by midnight tonight,” Rey said, stalking toward the door. A series of ‘yes ma’ams’ came from behind her. She turned to look back at Finn and Rose before she left the room. “I pray you find what you’re looking for, Finn. And if you get Rose killed, so help me I will track you down and you will wish you stayed at the mercy of the Supreme Leader.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for the wait! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	5. Chapter IV: Force Sickness

The sleep Rey received that night was restless and dreamless, but it was sleep nonetheless. She woke with the sun in the sky and that made her smile. She rolled out of bed, feeling barely better than the day before. She dressed in a beige dress cinched in with a dark brown corset. The heavy fabric lay off her shoulders, but underneath was a transparent white lace that covered her from the base of her neck to her wrist.   
She wasn’t sure wearing heels would be the best idea with her constant dizziness, but she knew she needed to keep up appearances. She pulled in her jewelry, put on a little more makeup than usual, and made sure every strand of hair was in exact order. She looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize the girl that stared back at her. The thought disgusted her.   
When her parents were still around, she never wore makeup. She was always covered in dirt and her dresses were constantly in need of mending. No one dared called her street rat while her parents were there, but once they went missing and Rey was crowned Regent, she heard the words ‘rat’ and ‘scavenger’ thrown around in every conversation she passed by. She had to change her appearance, change who she was, all so that she could earn the respect that she was owed. The idea made her angry, but there was nothing she could do about it. She needed these people to trust and respect her, even if the girl they were looking at wasn’t the girl Rey felt like on the inside.   
She walked out of her room with a smile. Kylo was sitting at the counter eating the breakfast he had made.   
“Breakfast smells delicious, thank you,” Rey said to him, sitting beside him. He nodded his head in acknowledgment. “What time is it?”   
“Almost 9, Princess,” Kylo said. Rey choked on her coffee.   
“That late? I have so much that needs to be done.” She swallowed her breakfast as fast as she could, reapplying her lipstick before she left her room. Kylo followed quickly behind her, dawning his quiet persona. They ran into Poe as they hurried down the halls.   
“Where are you off to?” He asked, hands behind his back.   
“We’re going over plans for the greenhouses today. I’m very close to being late, so whatever you have to say, please make it quick,” she replied in the kindest way possible.   
“Finn and Rose were gone last night at 11. By our calculations, they should make it to the Moon Station in a week. If there are people there, we should hear back from her by that time. If no one else is there, Rose is smart and she’ll be able to contact us, but it’ll be a while before she’ll get anything going,” Poe informed her.   
“What happens to Finn if no one is there?” Rey asked, not having thought of it before.   
“Well,” Poe said with a sigh. “Either he’ll stay there alone or he’ll come back and he made it very clear he didn’t want to come back.”   
Rey sighed and walked faster.   
“Thank you for the update, Poe. I hope I can talk to you more later tonight,” she said. Poe nodded.   
“Maybe we can finally get some time alone,” he said with a smile. Rey laughed and glanced back at Kylo, who looked as if he couldn’t hear them.   
“I doubt that will ever happen.”   
Poe bid her farewell and she carried on. She tried to keep her mind away from Rose and Finn, but it felt impossible. She found herself yearning to talk about greenhouses and argue over all the little things there were to argue about. She didn’t want to think about the Supreme Leader or the alarming fact that she recently realized that she knew nothing about the man in whose hands she put her life everyday.   
“Sorry for my tardiness,” Rey said as she walked into the Council Hall. “There were some things that needed to be addressed.”   
The counselors mumbled to each other.   
“There is no issue, Your Highness,” Lor San Tekka said with a smile. “We understand the weight you have on your shoulders in this season.”   
The discussion began and Rey found herself immersed in the topic of sizes and payments and products. She liked being Regent when it came to things like this. She enjoyed the harmless squabble and the heated debates. It got her mind off the things she didn’t want to think about. She was also grateful for sitting in a chair all day. Sure, she got squeamish on most days and wanted nothing more than to stand up and run around in circles. However, in the state she was in recently, she was glad to be sitting. Still, she bounced her feet and tapped her fingers all day until the meeting was adjourned. She was happy with the work they had done today and was smiling on the way to Poe’s room.   
Her mood was so high that she didn’t realize how dizzy she felt until her knees buckled and she stumbled forward. Rey caught herself on the wall just before Kylo wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her. She gasped for air, very little breath getting into her lungs. Tears burned in her eyes. Her entire body shook.   
“Princess, we need to get you to Dameron’s room,” Kylo whispered in her head, his breath on her neck. She nodded, unable to respond. “I can keep you standing, but you have to move your legs.”   
Rey didn’t understand what he meant until her body straightened on its own, as if a pair of all-powerful hands were holding her upright. She looked back at Kylo, whose hands were still centimeters from her back. His fingers were flexed and she knew that he was the one keeping her upright. She swallowed the bile in her throat and took a wobbling step forward. They weren’t very far from Poe’s room. She just had to make it there, only a few more steps.   
As she walked, one of her counselors walked by. Fear gripped at her stomach as she passed. She would see, she would see Rey’s weakness. Yet, the woman walked by, bowed as she was supposed to, and carried on as if nothing was wrong.   
“Just keep walking, you’re almost there,” Kylo muttered. Rey nodded, lips quivering, tears threatening her eyes. She tried to blink them away.   
She made it to Poe’s door, but couldn’t find the strength to lift her hand to open it. Kylo reached around her and opened the door for her. As soon as Rey took one step into the room, her body collapsed. Kylo caught her as she fell, sweeping her up into his arms. He shut the door behind him as quickly as he could.   
“Rey?” Poe had been reading a book when Kylo burst through the door. “Ren, what happened?”   
Kylo said nothing. He pushed past Poe and carried Rey toward the bedroom. He lay her carefully on the bed, kneeling beside her.   
“What’s happened?” Poe asked again, his voice hardening.   
“Go get Maz,” Kylo ordered.   
“What happened?”   
“Get Maz!” Poe jumped away from Kylo. The man kneeling beside the Princess was not the stoic, placid bodyguard Poe had grown accustomed to. His calm, brown eyes were a blazing fire. Poe feared if he didn’t do what Kylo asked, he might get burned. Poe ducked out of the room as fast as he could, throwing one last look back at Rey, asleep on his bed.   
Kylo was afraid to touch Rey. Her skin was like fire and he could feel it radiating off of her. Fear gripped at his throat, unsure of what to do. He was just about to take her hand when the door burst open. Maz and Poe raced in. Maz kneeled across the bed from Kylo, grabbing Rey’s hand in hers. She put a wrinkled hand on Rey’s forehead, eyes closed. She breathed deeply and when she opened her eyes, she looked straight to Kylo.   
“You know what this is, Ren,” she said to him. Kylo let out a shaky breath. “You know what is causing this.”   
“What is it?” Poe asked, arms crossed. He was leaning against the wall in hopes of covering up the fact that his entire body was shaking. Maz glanced over at him, then back to Kylo.   
“There is nothing I can do. You can wake her up, but you must tell her, Ren. You are the only one she’ll listen to.” Maz stood and Kylo lowered his head.   
“What is happening?” Poe yelled, pushing himself off of the wall.   
“Come with me, Dameron. I will explain everything.” Maz took Poe’s hand and lead him out of the room. Poe looked back at Rey again, not wanting to let her out of his sight, especially not with the man he had just seen.   
Kylo finally took Rey’s hand, his own hands shaking. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose.   
Rey’s eyes snapped open, gasping for breath. She tried to sit up, hands curling around the blankets she lay on. Kylo put his hands on her shoulders, trying to hold her back.   
“Princess, Princess, it’s just me,” he said. “It’s just me.”   
Rey’s chest rose and fell, tears brimming in her eyes.   
“Just breathe, just breathe,” he told her, reaching up to touch her cheek. As his fingers grazed her cheek, her eyes closed and a peace overwhelmed her. She breathed deeply through her nose and out through her mouth. When she summoned the courage to open her eyes, she was met with the prettiest brown eyes she had ever seen. She was grateful that he was there with her.   
“Did anyone see?” She asked, her voice meek and shaking. Kylo shook his head.   
“I made sure no one did. Maz and Dameron are in the main room,” he told her quietly. She lowered her head, shame squeezing her heart.   
“What happened?” She asked. Kylo sighed and dropped his hand.   
“This isn’t going to be something you want to hear,” he told her. Rey let out a defeated laugh.   
“Anything’s better than what I’m thinking.”   
“What are you thinking?”   
She looked up at him, water glossing over her eyes.   
“That I’m sick. That there’s something wrong with me and I’m going to die. That when my parents come back they’re going to find their daughter, not a queen, but dead because of some stupid illness,” she told her, her voice and hands trembling. Kylo took her shaking hands in his, waiting for her to pull her hands away. He spoke when she didn’t.   
“I’m going to tell you, that if you listen to me, that’s not going to happen,” he told her. She looked back at him.   
“Do you promise?”   
“I promise.”   
Rey breathed again.   
“So, what’s happening to me?”  
Kylo fiddled with his fingers as he thought of the way to frame his answer.   
“Sit on the bed, Ren. I don’t want you to have to sit on the ground.” Rey noticed him struggling and, even though the fear of dying was no longer imminent, his reluctance to speak put a new fear in her.   
Kylo pushed himself on to the bed, sitting beside her legs.   
“Do you know why certain people were chosen to be royals of the three stations?” He asked. Rey shook her head. “Three families, head by their Commander, took control; the Siths, the Skywalkers, and the Jakkus. These three were powerful, politically, but also...in a different way.”   
“The mutations from the radiation,” Rey said. Kylo nodded.   
“It changed them, gave them powers beyond anything Earth had seen before. They were all put as leaders. The Siths took Mercury Station, the Skywalkers took the Moon Station, the Jakkus took the Venus Station,” he explained. “There were others, outside of the Royal Families that had these powers as well. As you may have noticed, I was born with the mutated cells. And so were you.”   
Rey blinked, unsure of what to say. Her stomach churned and she felt like she was going to throw up again.   
“So, assume that I have this mutation,” she said slowly, “What does it have to do with the throwing up and the passing out?”   
“Most people with these cells are taught how to use their powers when they’re young. The younger the better. However, the older you get, the harder it is to control. Along with that inability to control and the unwillingness to learn, instead of these mutated cells working to help you, they start to turn against you. If you don’t learn to control your powers, it will kill you.”   
Rey’s head spun. She scowled.   
“I’m sorry….I, uh, I can’t….” Rey rushed off the bed.   
“Princess, wait,” Kylo said, running after her as Rey rushed out of the room. Poe and Maz stood as Rey ran past them. She caught eyes with Maz, who sighed in disappointment. Rey shook her head. Tears swam in her eyes as she raced from the room. When she hit the hallway, she stopped running, afraid of who she might run into, but she still walked as quickly as her wobbling legs allowed her. When someone grabbed her wrist, she spun around, swinging her hand in a fist. Kylo caught her arm before she smacked him in the face. Holding both her wrists, he tried to calm her down.   
“You need a teacher,” he whispered to her, begging her to understand. “I can show you the ways of the Force.”   
Rey felt a tingling in her stomach, her heart exploding into a million pieces. At first, the explosion felt right, but as she thought about it, the idea of being some kind of mutation soiled it and turned it rotten. The explosion within her heart came out of her as she snapped her eyes open.   
“Stop!” The explosion threw Kylo Ren backward down the hall. Rey put a hand over her chest. She looked over at Kylo, guilt holding their gaze. He looked angry, but afraid at the same time and the idea sent her running. She turned on her heel, hiking up her skirt. She ran down the hallway as fast as she could.   
Stepping into her room, Rey threw off her shoes. She was pulling her gown off, tears streaming down her face, before she even made it to her room. Nubs jumped off her bed, wagging his tail. When he noticed her tears, his tail stopped wagging and he sat at her feet. Rey stepped out of her gown, standing in her undergown. She picked Nubs up and held him close to her chest, sobbing.   
Her heart convulsed, her breathing uneven. She wasn’t sure how to process everything that Kylo had told her. She had attacked him. After everything that he had done for her, all the times he had saved her life and sat beside her, she had repaid him by throwing him across a room when he tried to help her once again.   
Nubs whined and she set him down on her bed, sitting on the floor beside him. Nubs licked her forehead. Looking at her dog that her mother and father had given her, Rey felt a sudden longing for her parents. There was no one she trusted more than her long lost parents. If she found them, they would be able to explain everything. If Kylo was right, then at least her mother had the same powers as her and she could teach Rey how to control the storm brewing inside.   
She stood suddenly, running to the back of her closet for her Trader’s day outfit. She pulled the outfit on before she even knew what she was doing. She grabbed her staff and stood in front of Nubs, who cocked his head.   
“I’m going to find my parents,” she told him. Numbs stuck his tongue out. “Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do.”   
“Well, someone is going to have to look after everything while you’re gone.”  
Rey turned around, holding out her staff, but it was just Maz.   
“I know you are afraid, child, and that is perfectly fine.”  
“So, you think I should go?”   
“No, I don’t, but you are your own person, and if this path is what you chose, then chose it with conviction.”   
“Will you look after everything while I’m gone?” She asked. “Poe and Ren, they won’t understand. They’ll try to follow me. Please, don’t let them.”   
“As you wish, Princess,” Maz said, bowing her head.   
Rey scooped Nubs up and kissed his head.   
“Ren will take care of you while I’m gone,” she told the dog. Nubs whined and she kissed him again. SHe set her dog down and started packing some food and a few of her items she couldn’t live without. She felt like she was running away rather than going on a rescue mission. She did her hair in three buns, breathing deeply.   
“You need to go now, child. Dameron and Ren will not take their time to come after you. I will hold them off for as long as I can,” Maz told her. Rey nodded. She started toward the door and before she could leave, Maz grabbed her wrist. Rey turned back toward her and Maz cradled Rey’s small hand in hers.   
“Be safe, Princess. We cannot lose all of our Royals,” Maz told her, squeezing her hands. Rey gave her a reassuring smile and put her hand on Maz’s cheek.   
“I will come back to you,” she promised.   
“Good. Now go, young one. Go find your parents, and maybe a few more answers along the way.” 

Rey sat in her personal spacecraft, breathing deeply. She wasn’t sure why, but tears once again gathered in her eyes. She had never left Mead, let alone Venus. She was afraid of leaving the comfort of home, but staying would be condemning her mother and father to death, and maybe herself too. Rey breathed deeply, turning on the spacecraft and beginning the take off process. Just before she lifted off the ground, the hanger door burst open.   
“REY!” Poe sprinted toward the ship. “Rey, wait!”   
“No, Poe,” she whispered to herself. “I’m doing this alone.”   
“You don’t have to do this alone!” He cried, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Let me come with you!”   
The longer Rey stared at Poe, the closer her hand got to the button that opened the ramp. She let out a breath and slammed the button. She stood from her chair and raced through her spacecraft toward the ramp. She got there just as the ramp opened. Poe ran up the ramp to meet her. She put her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer by the waist.   
“You were really going to leave without me?” He whispered in her ear.   
“Yeah, I was.” She pulled away from him. “But now I’m not.”   
She pushed the close button on the ramp and just as she did so, Kylo walked in through the door. She saw him say something, but she couldn’t hear what he said. She jumped when the ramp slammed shut.   
“Rey, if you want to go, we need to go now.”   
Rey nodded, but she was unable to turn her face away from the closed ramp and the friend she had abandoned behind it.

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy This Strange World My Brain Has Created :)


End file.
